Thong cutting device



Aug. 18, 1953 w. HINSCHE THONG CUTTING DEVICE Filed Oct. 26, 1951 INVENTOR W. H/NJCHE BY (ZZZ/Ha al (/15 9211 3 Patented Aug. 18, 1953 QFFICE THONG CUTTING DEVICE William Hinsche, QucsneL'British Columbia,

Canad Application October 26, 1951, Serial No. 253,233

1 Claim. 1

My invention pertains to leather cutters, particularly to a leather thong cutter of the character herewithin described an object of which is to provide a device with which it is possible to cut relatively lengthy thongs from comparatively short pieces of leather.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device of the character herewithin described which is adjustable for a variety of widths of thong, and also for a variety of thicknesses.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a device of the character herewithin described which utilizes discarded razor blades for a cutting edge without, however, being restricted to such blades for cutting edges.

And yet another object of my invention is to provide a device of the character herewithin described, which is simple and economical to manufacture and use, and which is exceptionally well suited to the purposes for which it is intended.

With the foregoing objects in view, and such other objects and advantages as will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention relates as this specification proceeds, my invention consists essentially in the arrangement and construction of parts all as hereinafter more particularly described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my leather thong cutter, from which a wing nut has been omitted for the sake of clarity.

Figure 2 is a reduced perspective view of my device in the act of cutting a thong from a piece of material shown in situ.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary bottom view of my device, but reversed from Figure 1, depicting the centre portion of my thong cutter and showing details of the means for thickness variation of the material being out.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.

Individuals who pursue leather work as a hobby, and various sportsmen often require a leather thong or thongs. For relatively short lengths the difliculty would consist, mainly, in maintaining some degree of uniformity in the width and thickness of the thong. By use of my very simple device it is possible to produce a lengthy thong expeditiously and uniformly from' a relatively small fragment of material.

Proceeding now to discuss my invention in detail, reference is made to the drawings which show a block I of substantially rectangular cross- 2 section, and extending lengthwise sufllciently to be comfortable to handle. This block comprises both framework and handle for the device, and will be designated a hand block hereinafter.

The mid section 2 of said hand block is reduced in height thus forming an elongated slot for the reception of the cutting edge and mounting. A mortise 3 is provided at one end of said slot the depth of which is the same as that of the said slot itself.

Said mortise provides for the preservation of alignment of the aforementioned cutting edge and mounting. The cutting edge 4 is a fragment of thin steel sheet such as a portion of a discarded razor blade, one edge of which is sharpened to a high degree. Said cutting edge is mounted upon and retained by a multiplicity of shim plates 5 and 6 in a manner hereinafter described.

The said shim plates are of two designs 5 and 6. One of the designs, 5, comprises a substantially rectangular portion, one end of which is provided with a tongue I of the same thickness but narrower width than the shim plate itself. A drilling 8- for a through bolt 9 is provided through the shim plate itself.- A conventional wing nut ID, or other similar nut, is threaded upon said through bolt, when assembling the device. These aforementioned shim plates 5 will be designated tongued shim plates hereinafter and a multiplicity of said plates is provided sufiicient to amount to the approximate depth of slot 2 when stacked one above the other.

The other design, 6, of shim plate, comprises a substantially rectangular plate, the dimensions of which conform to the rectangular portion of the hereinbefore described tongued plate. A drilling II is provided through the centres of the said plates for through bolt 12, which is provided with a wing nut, or other conventional nut, IS. A quantity of said plates are provided, as in the aforesaid tongued shim plate, suiiicient to amount to the approximate depth of the slot 2 when stacked one upon the other.

A vertical drilling i4 is provided through the mid-section 2 of the hand block I and located so that shim plates 5, when threaded upon through bolt l2 (which also passes through drilling I4), will have one end of each plate contiguous with edge l5 of the aforesaid slot 2.

Corresponding with said drilling M an axially extended sl-ot I8 is broached through the midsection 2 of the hand block in axial alignment with the aforementioned drilling l 4. A recess [6, of rectangular conformation, and shallow in 3 depth, is provided about said slotted breaching I6, upon the underside of the hand block, in which rectangular sliding head I1 is freely retained. Said sliding head is threaded upon through bolt 9 and is retained thereby.

The two through bolts 9 and I2 are threaded through slotted broaching I6 and drilling I4, respectively, after sliding head I! has been fitted to said bolt 9 and then fitted so .as to be slideably retained in recess I6.

A number of shim plates of both designs and 5 are threaded upon their respective through bolts 9 and I2 until the thickness accumulated upon the hand block I conforms with the width of thong required, the tongues I of plates 5 fitting 1 slotted broaching I 6., together with the recess I5,

within which sliding head I! is free to move and guide the through bolt 9. Further guidance and preservation of alignment is provided by the axial motion of tongues I, within mortise 3, during the process of adjustment.

Upon completion of adjustmentthe two wing nuts I53 and I3 are threaded upon their respective bolts and tightened securing the cutting edge ii and the gap I8 for the leather.

The piece of leather is then caused to bear against the said cutting edge and slicing of thong 28 results a the leather is fed through the gap 53 and against the said cutting edge. By maintaining pressure upon the bottom of the gap I3, which is also the slot surface 2 of the hand block I, the operator is assured of uniform Width of thong. Also, if the cutting is caused to begin at the centre of the piece of material to be cut, and caused to follow a spiral path, a fairly lengthy thong can be produced from a relatively small piece of material.

Since various modification can be made in my invention as hereinabove described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made within the spirit and scope of the claim without departing from such spirit and scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.

What I claim as my invention is:

A thong cutting device for leather and the like, comprising in combination a recessed hand block, a cutting blade held by said block Within said recess, means associated with said block for varying the height of said blade from the base of said recess and thereby varying the thickness of out said device is capable of making, and further means for varying the length of the efiective cutting edge of said blade to suit materials of varying thicknesses, said first mentioned means including a set of rectangular shims detachably secured at one end of said recess and a corresponding set of rectangular shims also detachably secured adjacent the other end of said recess so that a gap is left therebetween through which the leather is fed, said blade being selectively clamped between said shims and spanning said gap, said means for varying the length oi the effective cutting edge of said blade including a mortised slot at one end of aid recess, said set of shims adjacent said end being provided with tongues engageable within said mortised slot, said means to secure said shims. Within said recess taking form of a bolt passing through said shims andsairl block, said block being slotted to permit limited movement of said bolt and said shims in the direction of the axis of said block.

WILLIAM". HINSCHE.

References Cited in the file Of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,082,524 Sell June 1, 1937 2,411,927 Luke Dec. 3, 1946 2,518,991 Kolodnicki Aug. 15, 1950 2,559,291 Engeln July 3, 1951 

